Display apparatus



OCLV, 1930. J, G. 5TE|55 1,777,866

DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed April 18. 1929 i l l y @im fig'. El.

j, y ZM@ Il yay/JLU Patented Oct. 7, 1930 PATENT OFFICE JOHN GORDON srniss, or KiTcHENER, ONTARIO, CANADA DISPLAY APPARATUS Application filed April 18,

This invention relates to display apparatus and more particularly to the type in which a plurality otl displays are independently shown on one apparatus, and my object is to provide a device of this character in which theidilt'erent display matters are shown by contrasting coloured el'lccts and in which the display matters may be superimposed on a common ground.

I attain my object by providing t-wo trans- ,lucentindicia ot contrasting colours which may be superimposed on the back of a translucent window. Behind the indicia are located two independently controllable sources ot light having colours substantially corresponding to the indicia whereby the coloured rays from either source ot light will pass through the correspondingly coloured indicia and the window to provide a coloured Z0 background for the contrasting coloured indicia. This results in the background being illuminated withilight o'tl either colour for displaying thel indicia ot contrasting colour to the light employed. As the light rays of either colour do not pass the contrasting coloured indicia, the latter are shown dark against the lighter coloured background.

The constructions are hereinafter more fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which i Fig. l is a front elevation of my device showing two separate display matters superimposed on the back of the Window of the device;

Fig. 2 a cross section thereofl with both sources of light extinguished;

Fig. 3 a cross section showing the source ot' light behind the red coloured screen to ybe lighted;

Fig. 4 a front elevation of Fig. 3 showing the matter displayed; v.

Fig. 5 a cross section showing the source o'l light behind the green coloured screen to be lighted;

Fig. 6 a front elevation of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 a rear View ot' the device; and

Fig. 84 a cross section of a modified form of my device.y f

l is a casing provided with a translucent window 2 which is preferably formed of 1929.. Serial' No. 356,092.

semi-transparent crinkly White glass to produce a light dispersive eliect and to reduce the visibility by daylight of contrastingly coloured indicia 3V and 4 located behind the window. Any suitable means, such as a sheet ot clear glass 5, may be used to hold the indicia in position against the innerV side of the window. 'l` he indicia Symay be coloured green or blue and the indicia 4: may be coloured red, cerise, or amber. lVhile the general terms green and red are used throughout the specification, it will be distinctly understood that any contrasting or complemental colours will come Within the meaning of these terms.

The casing is divided by means of an opaque sepa rater 6 into two compartments in which sources of light 7 and 8 are suitably mounted. Between these-compartments and a compartment in which the indicia is carried at the rear of the Window 2, are screens 9 and l() oi' colours substantially corresponding to the colours of the indicia 3 and 4 respectively. y

By lighting the bulb or bulbs S, see Figs. 3 and el the screen 10 transmits red coloured rays ot light to illuminate ythe Window 2 and these rays pass through the red coloured indicia 4L to illuminate the portion of the window against which the indicia 4 lies. As the red rays will not pass through the green indicia 3, the/latter is dis )layed on the red background. When the ulb or 'bulbs 7 are lighted, see Figs. 5 and 6, the Window 2 is illuminated by green coloured rays of light through the screen 9 and these pass through the green coloured ,indicia 3 to provide a green coloured background for the red coloured indicia -t which is thus displayed. In other words, the green coloured light rays pass the green coloured indicia to cut out the latter and thus provide a green background for the red coloured indicia, and similarly the red coloured light rays pass the red coloured indicia to cutout the latter and thus provide 91 (ared background for the green 'coloured in- In Fig. 8 lenses 9 and l0a are substantially, for the screens 9 and l0 and the bulbs 7?, 8" are coloured green and red respectively. Any 1.00

ordinary two contact switch 11 may be employed to control the lighting of the bulbs 7 or 7a independently of the bulbs 8 or 8a when the device is used as a direction indicator as illustrated in the drawings.

It will readily be seen that, by substituting sets of advertising matter of contrasting colours for the sets of direction matter shown and by substituting any well known electric iasher for the switch shown, the device will alternately display the sets of advertising matter. The manner in which the results are obtained will create an interest by the public in the display apparatus itself which will increase its value as an advertising medium. Further, interest and a reduction in the amount of material required to build eachdevice are obtained by superimposing the indicia 3 and 4 on one another.

The parts of the device may be positioned by sliding the ends of the screens 9 and 10 in grooves 9b and 10b formed in the ends of the casing so that the screens engage the glass 5. The screens are held in position by the separator 6 which in turn is engaged by the removable cover 1a of the casing.

Coloured glass may be used for the screens or they may be made by inserting coloured i transparent sheets of gelatinous material between two sheets of clear glass. In the latter case the sheets of each screen may be of slightly different shades so that they will blend to obtain the best results.

What I claim is:

Display apparatus comprising a casing; two superimposed translucent indicia of contrasting color supported at the front of the casing; a longitudinal partition extending from the back of the casing partway towards the front; two translucent screens of similar color to the aforesaid indicia extending from end to end of the casing, one extending from the front edge of the aforesaid partition to one longitudinal edge of the front of the casing and the other from the front edge of the aforesaid partition to the other longitudinal edge of the front of the casing; and two independently controllable sources of light within thecasing behind the screens and at op osite sides of the partition. 192ifgned at Kitchner this 2nd day of April,

JOHN GORDON STEISS. 

